My research focuses on neuroimaging, informatics, mapping brain structure and function, and brain atlasing. I developed multimodal imaging and data aggregation strategies and applied them in a variety of neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders.

Research
Evaluating how genetic and environmental risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) relate to brain structure, function, and connectivity throughout adulthood, with an emphasis on cognitively intact adults and those with early mild cognitive impairment.
Studying how AD risk-related biological mechanisms and signaling pathways are associated with brain measures using relevant blood and cerebrospinal fluid measures, and multimodal imaging (structural and functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and PET).

My research focuses on the application of magnetic resonance technology to measure biological parameters for the diagnosis and treatment of human disease including new imaging biomarkers of structural and functional connectivity in humans.

Development of analytical tools and clinical translations of functinal MRI technology. I am generally interested in the relation between functional connectivity, complexity and metabolism of brain networks.

Education
PhD of the Faculties of Medicine, Science and Veterinary Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland, 2009

The Laboratory of Neuro Imaging encompasses a diverse team of neuroscientists, engineers, and data scientists, all working toward a common goal: mapping the brain. LONI researchers study diseases, including neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, and seek to understand changes in the brain across the lifespan.

Originally focused on linking brain structure and function using sophisticated connectivity maps, LONI has expanded its work to include the application of 3D visualization, emerging mathematics, and large-scale computational architecture to biomedical datasets.

LONI is a leader in the study of healthy neurological function, as well as brain development and aging, including disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, bipolar disorder, HIV, depression and stroke.

The Imaging Genetics Center is dedicated to discovering how individual genetic differences influence brain wiring, structure, and function. A research team of neuroscientists, engineers, medical doctors and computer scientists have joined forces to work toward this goal.

Focusing on how genes determine brain structure and function, the IGC actively develops technical and mathematical tools to study how the brain changes in disorders and diseases such as autism, HIV, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury. The IGC uses Diffusion Weighted Imaging, key for mapping connectivity within the brain, and has developed a novel method of labeling white matter brain tissue, which greatly increases the speed of data analysis.

Launched in 2016, the Center for Image Acquisition (CIA) employs cutting-edge scientific instruments and analytical approaches to optimize images of the living human brain. The powerful tools and techniques developed by the CIA team enable breakthroughs in both the lab and clinic, and are ultimately perfected and shared with the larger scientific community.

The CIA houses two of the world’s most advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners, along with dedicated supercomputing systems, cutting-edge analysis techniques, and unrivaled professional expertise. The Siemens Prisma 3T MRI scanner boasts a high-end gradient system ideal for clinical imaging studies; the INI’s Siemens Terra 7T MRI scanner was the first of its kind installed in North America, and contains a powerful magnet that enables researchers to image the brain in ultra-high resolution.

Website: coming soon

Launched in 2017, the Center for Integrative Connectomics houses a cross-disciplinary research group working to develop a detailed connectivity map of the mammalian brain and to understand the neural networks underlying health and disease.

The CIC is home to the revolutionary Mouse Connectome Project, which has traced more than 2,000 pathways within the mouse brain. Other projects include classification of neuronal cell types, as well as the exploration of differences in connectivity underlying neurological disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases.